Build School Gardens for 1800 Youth in Burundi

Teachers in Burundi are completing their second year of utilizing the 4-H Gardening Curriculum in their classrooms and garden “laboratories”. Recently an evaluation was conducted by the Burundi 4-H Staff aksing students what they had learned while working in the gardens.

Six hundred and twenty-four students responded across four schools to questions about the school gardens. One hundred percent of students reported the school gardens helped them better understand how to grow vegetables. The primary things they reported learning include the importance of applying manure and fertilizers, using homemade insecticides to fight against disease, the importance of water for plants, and the use of grass to keep in the humidity and fertilizer. Students said they learned how to pick a good garden spot including high quality soil and access to light, and being positioned away from animals that might destroy the garden.

All 624 students believe they learned how to produce vegetables in school gardens and were excited to participate in the harvest. Crops included: carrots, corn, beans, tomatoes, and greens. Two of the schools had an open house celebration where they prepared what was harvested from the gardens and shared it with each other. The other two schools sent food home with participating students. In one of the schools Food World Programme has begun to provide a school lunch program. Vegetables from the school gardens have been donated to provide vegetables for the lunches. Students were also asked if they talk about what they learned at school working in the gardens with their family and other community members and over 90% report doing so. Students talked to their family members about how to create borders for the garden, the reasons for planting vegetables in lines, how to prepare compost and insecticides, and how they harvested and then cooked the vegetables that were grown.

Amazing growth in the gardens, the students and their families is happening in Burundi. Thank you for your continued support.

“There are genuinely sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry.” Ed Asner

Links:

• Information about Burundi 4-H Sister Schools